‘3 yrs of unpaid dues, 9 suicides’: MGNREGA vendors call for action
Times of India | 21 November 2024
123 Kolkata: The state MGNREGA Vendors' Association has appealed to the panchayat secretary and rural development department to clear their outstanding dues, which, they claim have remained unsettled for the past three years.
According to the association, there are approximately one lakh small-scale vendors who supplied materials such as cement, stone chips, sand and other items for work under MGNREGA. Most of these vendors invested in the contracts by taking loans.
With their dues unpaid for three years, the association stated that many vendors have been rendered homeless, while others have been forced to become migrant labourers to earn a livelihood. In a deputation to the panchayat secretary, the association also linked the suicides of nine of its members over recent years to their inability to clear debts. Many ailing vendors and their families are reportedly unable to afford medical treatment. The association has called for the immediate release of the outstanding dues to the families of the deceased vendors.
"While those engaged in 100-day work under the scheme with materials supplied by us are getting their payment, we have been deprived of our dues. We have been told that the dues have not been cleared by the central govt. But why? We are caught in between the politics of the state and the central govt," said one of the vendors.
In the deputation, there is a warning of a mass movement if no response is received from the panchayat secretary.